Former Lexington woman hurt in 10-story fall shows improvement

Bryan Station High School and Eastern Kentucky University graduate Ciara Williams was critically injured in fall from the 10th floor of an Atlanta hotel.

Bryan Station High School and Eastern Kentucky University graduate Ciara Williams was critically injured in fall from the 10th floor of an Atlanta hotel.

Family and friends have created a Facebook support page for a former Lexington resident who survived a fall from a 10th-story window at a luxury Atlanta hotel Saturday.

Bryan Station High School graduate Ciara Williams, 25, and her friend LaShawna Threatt, 30, fell through the window while "play fighting," police have said. Threatt died after landing on a slanted glass ceiling above a sunroom below; Williams rolled off the sunroom and fell further to a patio on the ground.

The Facebook group "Ciara Williams Support" will be updated frequently by friends and family, who have been by Williams' side since she was admitted to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, said Dallas Wright, a close friend of Williams.

Wright said the family didn't want to discuss the specific injuries Williams sustained but said she was showing improvement Monday night.

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"She's in the recovery process," Wright said. "She's responsive to questions and she's aware of her surroundings."

According to an update to the Facebook page, she is able to move her legs, arms and head. Wright said she opens her eyes and looks around — she hasn't spoken, but she has mouthed words.

Williams and Threatt were both models, and Williams had been a dancer for Lexington sports teams, said her cousin, LaRhonda Hill, who lives in Lexington.

Hill questioned how two small women could crash through the window. She doesn't doubt that the two were play fighting and that it was an accident — she said she's seen them wrestle before — but witnesses told her they were leaning on the window when it broke.

"I don't want people to think that they rammed up against the window hard," she said.

Asked about a possible structural failure, Michael O'Donohue, a manager at the W Atlanta-Midtown hotel, said in a statement that an internal investigation was underway.

"We are taking this horrible accident very, very seriously. Like everyone, it's hard for us to understand exactly how this happened," the statement said.

"Until we have assembled and analyzed all of the facts, we don't want to speculate. Rest assured, the safety and security of our guests and associates is paramount," it said.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of LaShawna Threatt and with her friend, Ciara Williams, for whom we pray for a successful recovery," O'Donohue said.

Atlanta police have said the incident was an accident, but they were continuing to investigate. Police could not be reached for comment Monday.